8 claims in the Mayor's budget message don't match the city's own figures
We checked the Mayor's budget message (pp. 1 to 7) against the city's budget, audits, and reports. These are the claims the records contradict or that are misleading.
The $1.2 million surplus isn't in the city's records
Mayor claims$1.2M
Records show$752K
The Mayor claims "the increase of our city's budget surplus to $1.2 million dollars."
No city document shows a $1.2 million surplus. The General Fund surplus was $849,413 in 2024 and $752,068 in 2025 (not yet audited). 2025 report to the State Comptroller
What this means for you: the city ended 2025 with $752,068 more than it spent, about 3 days of city spending. Police overtime in 2025 cost $591,487 more than the 2027 budget allows for it, so a single line like that can use up a surplus this size.
✕ Doesn't match
Troy's tax rate is higher than Albany's, Schenectady's, and Saratoga's
Mayor claimsBelow neighbors
Records showHigher
The Mayor states: "This proposed tax rate remains significantly below those of our surrounding communities."
Rates per $1,000 of assessed value cannot be compared between cities. On the State Comptroller's comparable basis (full value, 2026), Troy's city rate is $9.76 per $1,000, higher than Albany ($8.49), Schenectady ($8.22), and Saratoga Springs ($2.89). State Comptroller data (spreadsheet)
What this means for you: on a home worth $200,000, city tax is about $1,952 a year in Troy and $1,698 in Albany, $254 less. School and county taxes are extra in both cities.
✕ Doesn't match
The fund for the unexpected is cut by two-thirds
Mayor claims"Healthy"
Records show$1.5M → $500K
The Mayor says "the City's contingency fund is healthy."
The contingency fund, money set aside for the unexpected, drops from $1,500,000 in 2025 to $600,000 in 2026 to $500,000 in 2027. Budget pages
What this means for you: if a storm, a lawsuit, or a major repair comes up in 2027, the budget has $500,000 to cover it, a third of what it had in 2025. Anything above that comes out of city savings.
✕ Doesn't match
Spending is growing more than three times as fast as before
Mayor claims"Controlling"
Records show+$5.7M in 2027
The Mayor writes: "We are controlling expenditures."
The budget grows $5.7 million in 2027 after $5.0 million in 2026, the two largest increases since at least 2019. From 2019 to 2024 it grew about $1.7 million a year. See the chart
What this means for you: the 2027 increase equals about $267 for every household in Troy.
✕ Doesn't match
Sales tax is falling, but the budget counts on it rising
Mayor claimsMore Downtown activity
Records show$912K short in 2025
The Mayor argues that "Troy has experienced increased activity Downtown" and that visitors "contribute to the economic activity and revenue base."
Sales tax, the city revenue that rises with local business activity, came in $912,103 under budget in 2025 and is running 1.1% below 2025 in 2026. The 2027 budget still assumes $21.6 million, $1.3 million more than 2025. 2025 year-end report
What this means for you: if sales tax comes in at the 2025 level, the city is $1,262,103 short in 2027. That money would come out of savings or from cuts made during the year.
✕ Doesn't match
$11.4 million in federal relief is still unspent, weeks before the deadline
Mayor claims"Successfully administered"
Records show27% unspent
The Mayor states: "The City has also successfully administered its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding."
The city still had $11.4 million of $42.9 million unspent at March 31, 2026, with a December 31, 2026 deadline. The Troy Farmer's Market project ($1.5 million) is reported as not started. See the projects
What this means for you: money not spent by December 31, 2026 is lost to Troy. Neighborhood projects such as Frear Park ($3.0 million not yet spent) and the farmer's market ($1.5 million) would lose whatever is left.
✕ Doesn't match
The budget's own totals are $52,361 apart
Mayor certifies"In balance"
Records showTwo totals
The Mayor and Comptroller certify the budget "is in balance between total expenditures and total revenues."
The department pages add up to $95,188,691. The summary pages and the tax calculation use $95,136,330, which is $52,361 less. Summary pages
What this means for you: your tax rate is set from the smaller total. If departments spend what their own pages list, they spend $52,361 more than the tax and revenue plan covers.
✕ Doesn't match
The City Hall move's $100,000 saving doesn't appear in the budget
Mayor claimsSaves $100K
Records showRent +$135K
The Mayor says the move to the former Proctor's Theatre will "immediately reduce our annual costs by approximately $100,000."
The city's own 2025 release put the old City Hall at $787,378 a year (rent, shared building charges, a payment in place of taxes, and utilities) and the new lease at $675,000. In the 2027 budget the rent line rises $135,000, to $670,000. If the move saved money, the old building's other costs should fall elsewhere in the budget. No line shows that: electricity rises $20,000 and heating stays flat. Building maintenance pages · City release, October 31, 2025
What this means for you: the budget you pay for includes $135,000 more in rent and no lower building costs anywhere else.
Misleading: accurate as worded, but the budget shows something the claim leaves out
! Misleading
Hiring is paused, but her own office adds a new aide
Mayor claimsHiring paused
Records show+1 aide, $43,260
The Mayor states: "I have directed City departments and staff to pause hiring for positions outside of police officers and firefighters, while evaluating any potential new hires on a case-by-case basis."
Elsewhere, the budget pairs open positions with "salary savings", money it expects not to spend because the positions stay empty. The Mayor's office adds a position that did not exist in the adopted 2026 budget, a Private Secretary to the Deputy Mayor ($43,260), and has no salary savings line, so the budget expects it to be filled. Mayor's office staff page
What this means for you: other departments hold down costs by leaving jobs empty, while the Mayor's office adds a $43,260 job in the same year.
! Misleading
4 police positions were empty when the budget was written
Mayor claimsFull staffing
Records show143 of 147
The Mayor says "the Troy Police Department reached full staffing for the first time in years."
The 2027 staffing pages list 147 police positions, 4 of them officer positions with no current salary, meaning they were empty when the pages were prepared. Police pages
What this means for you: police overtime is budgeted at $1.48 million, $591,487 less than the city spent on it in 2025. If those positions stay empty and overtime runs at the 2025 level, the difference comes out of city savings (see the budget gaps).
! Misleading
Holding the garbage fee flat takes $266,464 of General Fund money
Mayor claimsNo fee increase
Records show$266K net from the General Fund
The Mayor states: "The proposed 2027 budget does not include an increase to the annual garbage fee."
The fee stays at $229. In 2025 the garbage fund paid the General Fund $75,076 more than it received from it. In 2027 the General Fund puts $1,134,967 into the garbage fund and charges it $868,503 for city services, a net $266,464. Transfer pages, revenue pages
What this means for you: the $229 fee pays about $3.5 million of the $6.0 million garbage budget. The $266,464 comes from the General Fund, which property tax, sales tax, and state aid pay for. If the fee had to cover it, the fee would be about $17 higher per unit.
! Misleading
The water rate increase raises twice what the new chemicals cost
Mayor claimsFor treatment costs
Records show$595K vs $280K
The Mayor proposes "a $0.50/1,000 gallons [increase] in the water rate to address the rising cost of treating our water."
Water treatment chemicals rise $279,846. The rate increase brings in about twice that ($594,585). In the same budget, the water fund's payments to the General Fund rise $1.32 million. Revenue pages
What this means for you: the Mayor's message puts the increase at about $5.43 a quarter for a family of four, $21.72 a year (budget message). The new chemicals account for less than half of that, about $10. Water bills are also sending $1.32 million more to the General Fund, so your water bill pays a larger share of the city's general costs, on top of the property tax increase.
! Misleading
Troy is in the middle of similar cities, not alone at the top
Mayor claims"Stands alone"
Records show10th of 18
The Mayor argues that "Troy stands alone as it enters 2027 with a stronger financial position."
The State Comptroller gives Troy no fiscal stress designation, while Albany and Schenectady have one. Troy is not alone: Binghamton, Niagara Falls, Rome, and Saratoga Springs also have none. Among 18 similar New York cities, Troy's savings rank 10th. State Comptroller fiscal stress scores (spreadsheet)
What this means for you: Troy's $10.8 million in unassigned savings is 11.6% of its spending, less than 9 of 18 similar cities hold. The 2027 budget could need $4.4 million of it (see the budget gaps).
Your city tax bill goes up about $85 a year
For a home assessed at $150,000. School and county taxes are separate and not included.
The city tax rate has gone up every year. The same $150,000 home paid $2,124 in 2019 and would pay $2,565 in 2027, which is $440 more. This chart shows the increase each year.
Show the numbers
Source: the tax requirements page of each budget (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027). The example holds the home's assessed value at $150,000 every year.
What this means for you: if you own a home assessed at $150,000, your city tax goes up about $85 in 2027, the largest increase since at least 2019. If you rent, as about 6 in 10 Troy households do, you get no tax bill, but your landlord does, and it is one of the costs your rent pays for.
$54 million of the $95 million budget goes to police and fire
How the proposed $95.1 million is split. Each department's amount includes its staff's pay and benefits. The city's budget groups police, fire, code enforcement, 911, traffic control, and parking as "Public Safety", $58.0 million (61%). Open any line to see the departments or costs behind it.
What this means for you: of every $100 the city budgets for 2027, about $57 goes to police and fire and about $7 to streets, snow removal, and parks. Police and fire also account for $2.9 million of the $5.7 million increase in 2027.
The budget is growing faster than it used to
This chart shows how much bigger each year's budget was than the year before. From 2019 to 2024 the budget grew about $1.7 million (2%) a year. It grew $5.0 million (5.9%) in 2026 and is set to grow $5.7 million (6.3%) in 2027, the two largest increases in this period.
Show the numbers
Source: the tax requirements page of each adopted budget (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026) and of the 2027 proposal. Mayor Mantello took office in January 2024. The 2024 budget was prepared before then.
What this means for you: the 2027 increase equals about $267 for every household in Troy.
The city's savings have barely grown since 2018
"Unassigned" savings are the money the city can use for an emergency or a bad year. They jumped in 2022 because a $5.6 million debt reserve was relabelled, not because the city saved more. Total savings have stayed near $18 to $19.5 million for eight years.
How much total savings changed each year
Show the numbers
Source: city audits (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024) and State Comptroller reports for 2014 and 2025 (2025 not yet audited). Recommended level: Government Finance Officers Association, at least two months of spending in unrestricted savings, which for Troy is close to the unassigned line.
What this means for you: Troy's usable savings, $10.8 million, are $5.0 million below the recommended $15.9 million, before the 2027 budget gaps below.
About $4.4 million of the plan differs from what happened in 2025
Some costs are budgeted lower than the city spent last year, and some income is budgeted higher than the city received. If 2027 looks like 2025, and other lines don't come in under budget, the difference comes out of savings.
What this means for you: if 2027 looks like 2025, the city would need about $4.4 million from savings and have $6.4 million left, less than half the recommended minimum.
Water, sewer, and garbage ratepayers cover about as much of the increase as property taxpayers
The General Fund budget is $13.0 million bigger than in 2024. This is where the extra money is expected to come from.
What this means for you: the tax rate shows only part of what you pay for the larger budget. About $2.5 million of the increase since 2024 is collected through water, sewer, and garbage charges, and $2.5 million through ambulance bills and other fees.
$11.4 million in federal relief money is still unspent
Troy received $42.9 million from the federal American Rescue Plan. Whatever is not spent is lost.
What the money is allowed to pay for
Under the US Treasury's rules, cities could use the money in four main ways:
Pandemic response and recovery: help for households, small businesses, nonprofits, and hard-hit neighborhoods, and public health.
Extra pay for essential workers who worked through the pandemic.
Replacing lost city revenue: cities could count up to $10 million as lost revenue and spend it on almost any regular city service.
Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.
Congress later added disaster relief and some transportation projects. The money generally cannot go into pension funds, pay off debt, or be added to savings. Treasury's full rules and guidance.
What this means for you: Troy loses any of the $11.4 million in federal project money it has not spent by December 31, 2026. The projects with the most left are Frear Park ($3.0 million), One Monument Square ($2.0 million), and the farmer's market ($1.5 million).
Pay in the Mayor's office: what the Council adopted, and what is paid
The Mayor's own salary has been $95,000 in every budget since at least 2024. All four of her appointees with a 2026 adopted rate are paid more than that rate.
What this means for you: the Mayor's office pays its appointees $41,875 a year more than the Council adopted for them.
Words used on this page
General Fund
The city's main account. It pays for police, fire, streets, parks, and city offices. Water, sewer, and garbage have separate accounts.
Adopted budget
The budget the City Council votes to approve. The Mayor proposes it, and the Council can change it before voting.
Unassigned savings (fund balance)
Money left over from past years that is not set aside for anything specific. It is the money the city can use in emergencies and bad years.
Tax rate
Dollars of city tax per $1,000 of a property's assessed value.
ARPA
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which sent pandemic relief money to cities. It can only be spent on approved projects, and the deadline is the end of 2026.
Check the numbers yourself
Each source link on this page opens an excerpt: the pages a number comes from, copied out of the city's PDF without changes. To confirm an excerpt matches the original, open the city's own copy next to it. On a computer it opens at the same page.